Kyōshi Takamori
Kyōshi Takamori (尊主きょうし, Takamori Kyōshi) is a -level shinobi from , the older brother of Koyone Takamori, and a former member of Team Reika. Along with the other members of his team Kyōshi served the village for several years before the squads eventual collapse. Later he would be sent to observe the unrest that was initially thought to be a prelude to another world war. To this end he would join the organization Sorane under the name . His time with Sorane was inevitably short, due to the collapse of hostilities, and Kyōshi returned to the Leaf. Background Early Life Kyōshi was born to a pair of civilians living in the a couple of years prior to the . Until the advent of the aforementioned war, Kyōshi grew up in peace with his parents and grandfather in a small village located on the southern coast of the country. Like many of the civilians the Takamori family was relocated to when the nation was identified to be a likely location for combat. More specifically, the family were taken into the Konoe household, to whom Kyōshi was distantly related through his maternal line. Soon after the Takamori's relocation Koyone was born, which extended their stay in the leaf village a couple of years beyond the end of the war. Eventually, Kyōshi's parents made the decision to stay in the village permanent, considering the safety of the village to be just what their children needed. Unfortunately, the final journey of Kyōshi's parents to the Land of Frost ended in disaster. While the details have never been fully discovered, it is believed that the Takamori's were ambushed out the outskirts of the , which was in a state of political instability following the massive loss of shinobi during the war. Upon hearing of his parent's demise Kyōshi, who now resided under the guardianship of his grandfather along with Koyone, took their deaths incredibly personally. As a child he naturally blamed his own weakness for not being able to save his parents, despite not being at the scene whatsoever. In turn, he sought the strength to protect the people closest to him by enrolling in the . While his grandfather resisted initially, he came to accept his grandson's wishes and permitted Kyōshi to follow his desired path. Becoming a Shinobi Kyōshi's time in the academy was brief, but immensely valuable to his development professionally and personally. During this time he met and befriended both Kamiya Tsutomu and Moriko, with whom Kyōshi developed strong ties. Driven by his goal to gain power to protect loved ones Kyōshi dedicated himself to the subjects presented in the academy much more than most of the other students. In fact, he took the initiative to hone his skill in the ninja arts outside of school as well. Unable to simply value a single form of combat over other Kyōshi took it upon himself to develop proficiency in all of the standard shinobi arts. Paired with seemingly innate talent in the field Kyōshi was able to easily meet the requirements for graduation at the age of ten. Unfortunately, such a feet was surprising at this age and day, and the village's administration was unable to pair the young shinobi with a squard. For nearly two years Kyōshi was forced to take on simple D-rank missions around the village, unable to actually gain experience as a true shinobi. Troubled with this lackluster position he instead focused on developing his personalized fighting style, a vicious whirlwind synchronization of various technique types. Finally, at the age of twelve, Kyōshi was put on a team alongside Kamiya and Moriko, under the tutelage of one of Konoha's finest Personality Kyōshi's personality has developed majorly as a result of his losses over the years. From the senseless deaths of his parents, and later his grandfather, at the hands of the cowardice of criminals, he has come to desire power for the purpose of protecting those close to him. This drive towards strength has empowered Kyōshi to excel in both his education and career as a shinobi, lending an unyielding will to accomplish any challenge to ensure the safety of his friends and family. Though, to this same end every loss he endures is taken as personal failure. Despite undoubtedly reinforcing his goal, each loss leaves him with an eternal scar, a reminder of his own weakness. As a shinobi Kyōshi proceeds in combat with a focused confidence, calmly handling the obstacles before him. This allows him to analyze and respond to the threats of multiple opponents simultaneously without losing his composure, making him an effective in a wide range of combative circumstances. His determination with regard to protecting his charges has also led him to look upon both techniques and weapons as merely tools to complete the objective at hand. To this end while he understands that people have an attachment to their techniques and abilities, he doesn't see the value in revering such skills outside of their functionality. This practicality with regard to power also extends to his position on heirloom weapons, seeing it as wasteful if only thing special about the item is its history. His same protective determination has resulted in events where Kyōshi has acted absolutely mercilessly in battle, eliminating opposition without remorse. While he primarily acts toward what he believes is the best interest of those close to him, Kyōshi seems to place much value on an individual's promises. As such he'll stand by his commitments with the utmost dedication, and expects the same out of others. Therefore, he holds little animosity towards many of his opponents, seeing them as simply the individuals on the other side of the board and not villains. In both his personal life and in battle Kyōshi is incredibly competitive, always searching for greater challenges to overcome. Around his comrades he usually acts in a quiet and aloof manner, taking pleasure in simply being in their company. Towards his teammates he tends to act in a distant, and occasionally even dismissive manner, not completely willing to attach himself to others. Despite his stoic behavior, Kyōshi appears to have a weak spot for the women around him. In their company he tends to act much more lighthearted and warm manner, though if questioned on the subject he likely deny his behavior completely. Appearance Kyōshi is a tall and thin young man possessing fair skin and hair the color of newly fallen snow. Furthermore, he has small facial features and ruby colored eyes, much like his younger sister. Kyōshi often wears a trademark long silver jacket, with crimson trim, that extends past his knees. Additionally he dresses himself in relatively standard black shinobi-style pants and boots, along with a matching shirt. Furthermore, he wears a metallic bracers over his wrists, though they are often concealed under his jacket. After joining Sorane Kyōshi replaced his jacket with the standard cloak utilized by the organization. Abilities Even amongst the masses of vastly capable shinobi around the world, Kyōshi possesses an aptitude for the shinobi arts that is rarely witnessed. Paired with his fierce drive to excel for the sake of those around him, he has quickly ascended as a powerful individual in his own right. While fate did not grant him the blood nor lineage of an embellished line of shinobi, his status has been a far greater gift than a hindrance. Rather than being subjugated to the suppressive doctrines of a clan, Kyōshi was free to pursue the skills and abilities he himself desired. To this end, he developed a practicality with regard to techniques of all variety, seeing them as tools for the progress of an individual's ambition, rather than precious traits to be passed on in secret. As such, he's achieved excellence in several, seemingly isolated, lines of abilities, demonstrating his unsurpassed technique flexibility and a rather unique presence on the battlefield. Chakra Prowess and Control Kyōshi's most notable natural ability is his innate talent for the control and manipulation of chakra. This trait, which would later be seen with his younger sister, serves as the keystone of a majority of Kyōshi's vast mastery of techniques and an undoubted staple of his fighting style. His inherent control of chakra has allowed Kyōshi to quickly amass an impressive arsenal of techniques at a young age, composed of several different skill-types. His fighting style also builds on his control, allowing him to weave together a variety of different abilities with speed and finesse. When coupled with his above average stamina, Kyōshi is able to perform several taxing techniques in quick succession without displaying immediate signs of fatigue. Kyōshi's chakra control can be witnessed in a more direct manner with his notoriety as a top-tier . Identifying this skill at an early age, Kyōshi rapidly developed his skill in the technique. While his range as a sensor would be enough to justify his usage of the skill, his true potential shines through in terms of the quality of the sensory data he can identify and decipher. In addition to being able to quickly differentiates between disruptions in an individual's chakra due to various afflictions, such as poisoning or genjutsu, he's able to read a target's basic and advanced elemental natures. This refined sensory allows him to take note of trends in an clan's chakra signature, allowing him to determine an individual's lineage. By far though, his greatest application of chakra sensory is apparent in his application of the skill in direct combat. Analyzing the formation of a target's chakra, in terms of type and magnitude, Kyōshi is able to prepare for a technique before it has even be manifested. In doing so he's able to begin instituting counter-measures much quicker than is normally witnessed. Taijutsu Kyōshi is incredibly adept with , despite not specializing in its performance. More specifically, he was able to neutralize several members of a scouting party with his skill in hand-to-hand combat alone, a testament to his abilities.Silence Upon Fallen Stone He usually employs a combination of speed and dexterity in order to outmaneuver and overwhelm his opponents. As such he is able to face both single adversaries to seemingly overwhelming groups of opponents with his physical attributes alone. In terms of speed Kyōshi's movements are hardly discernible to the naked eye, seemingly appearing and disappearing instantaneously as he moves about the battlefield, unless he purposely slows down his movements. Even individuals with technique enhanced reaction time have noted that Kyōshi's natural speed is especially troublesome. When his physical abilities are elevated with the Body Amplification Technique Kyōshi has demonstrated an unearthly increase in speed and strength. This has allowed him to avoid being harmed by the technique aimed at his face by blocking the assault with his jacket, and additionally removing the article of clothing before being engulfed by the black flames.Destined Encounter: Karasūri vs Kyōshi Genjutsu As perhaps the most direct application of his chakra control, Kyōshi possesses impressive skill with regard to . He primarily uses the Spirit Amplification Technique in conjunction with his chakra sensory to ensnare targets without the necessity of establishing a line of sight with opponents, like visual-based genjutsu, or needlessly effecting more opponents than necessary, as witnessed with sound-based genjutsu. This is accomplished by imposing his illusion inducing chakra directly on the target's chakra signature. In addition to casting genjutsu, he possesses extreme proficiency it recognizing and dispelling illusions both on himself and others. As such, he can even override illusions affecting his allies with his own genjutsu at range, effectively bolstering the abilities of those around him. His skill in the field also allows him to delve into the minds of opponents, and even refine his own senses to maximize his reaction time and concentration. His skill with illusory techniques was further demonstrated during his fight against an individual possessing the , a renowned for its hypnotic abilities. Against this particular opponent he was able to counteract the cast by his opponent with his own technique, effectively neutralizing the threat of the genjutsu for a majority of the battle.Destined Encounter: Karasūri vs Kyōshi His abilities against such illusions are further demonstrated when he faces , a genjutsu of immense power. Against this technique Kyōshi not only maintains consciousness without dispelling it, partially thanks to prior , but defeats the user mere moments later.Destined Encounter: Karasūri vs Kyōshi Ninjutsu Kyōshi's most vast and developed level of technique mastery falls under the classification of , which encompasses the majority of his techniques. Following his philosophy that techniques merely tools to be employed at user's will, he has amassed a vast variety of useful abilities in order to effectively respond and counter nearly any potential scenario. Among his less specific abilities is Kyōshi's impressive use of both and shadow clones, which he can weave together with his speed-based combat style for the purpose of misdirecting or scoring a critical blow on his opponents. Bukijutsu As a shinobi with a significant amount of experience, Kyōshi has acquired notable proficiency in a variety of different weaponry. To this end he's demonstrated the ability to make expert use of both his own and opponent's gear, either through confiscation or the acquisition of discarded arms. Despite the benefit of potentially mastering as many weapons as possible, Kyōshi has demonstrated the restraint to focus his expertise on standard tools. To his own admission, training in the usage of exotic weaponry or tools fosters a potentially dangerous reliance on the items in questions. Therefore, Kyōshi prefers using tools that are readily available, so he's not hindered in their absence. Kyōshi's skill with weaponry is most apparent in the realm of . Since the third and final phase of the , Kyōshi began carrying a sword regularly. Over the years he's developed his swordsmanship into one of his most powerful forms of combat, and also one of his most preferred. Built off of his taijutsu style, his swordsmanship displays a collaborative mixture of speed and finesse. His abilities are epitomized through the technique, Kogarashi, a technique of such massive power it distorts the surrounding environment through swordsmanship prowess alone. Therefore, Kyōshi has left countless foes defeated at the end of his blade, many unable to organize a defense whatsoever. Furthermore, he can combine with his kenjutsu to bolster his attack potential, occasionally in the form of powerful elemental and non-elemental shock waves. After the acquiring the Ceremonial Sword of Sealing, Kyōshi also incorporates the usage of various into his blade repertoire. In addition to his swordsmanship Kyōshi also readily utilizes and , which can also be combined for devastating results. In addition to extreme accuracy, elevated by his skills, Kyōshi can a single projectiles to overwhelming numbers. When utilized alongside , the sheer damage potential can easily push opponents to rely on only the most stalwart defenses. It should be noted that Kyōshi's use of clones is also in his kenjutsu, though it is witnessed far less often. Nature Transformation Fūinjutsu Space—Time Ninjutsu Intelligence Other Skills Stats Synopsis Part I Flashback Arc Part II Sixth Shinobi World War Prior to the war Kyōshi was ordered by Konoha to observe the events in the region under the guise of a freelance mercenary. With the freedom to take any action he deemed necessary as long as if didn't directly oppose the leaf, he earned himself reputation amongst the criminal underground as demonic swordsman. Eventually, he joined the organization Sorane, though to what end is unknown. Trivia Quotes References